You spend your time wondering where all the years went.

It seems like you woke up one morning and you found yourself so far away from who you thought you’d be at this point.

After you thought this stage of life would be full of freedom and happiness.

Now you finally wouldn’t have to answer to a boss or anyone else and you’d finally be calling all the shots.

Of course, you knew there would be a downside to aging, but you were optimistic that this stage of life would be the reward for how hard you’ve worked and how much you’ve been through. Or so you thought…

When you look at yourself today, you feel like you’ve come to a worried, confused place. And sad place. Your life is moving forward, and changes are happening. But it’s extremely hard to feel free when you struggle to maintain your autonomy and understand your purpose. On the worst days, you feel like you’re never going to find meaning in your later life because there’s too much to try to figure out and you don’t want to burden your family.

Well, I’m here to tell you you’re not alone. Aging, and transitioning to this latest phase in life does not mean you have to choose between being isolated or being a burden. You are completely capable of navigating older adulthood and achieving everything you hoped you would throughout your life.

At Coaching Aging Adults there is one thing I know for sure:

Growing older happily, healthfully, and gracefully is possible in any circumstance.

Sometimes things happen that we don’t expect, and it is easier – and less painful – to turn away than to face failing health, shrinking finances, or increasing loneliness. When this happens, older adults can find themselves focusing on the most negative aspects of their later life and forgetting about all the good.

This doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy your next act. It simply means you may have your work to do toward healing wounds, changing ingrained perceptions, and coping with and adapting to your aging body and lifestyle.

Often, when everything you’ve worked hard to build over the years seems to change, it can make you feel like it was all for nothing. Soon, you’re left wondering whether anything you did over the course of your life mattered and where you might go next.

But the truth is, existential crises like these happen. And when they do, it’s normal to wonder about your worth and your contribution. Although the amount of change in your life may leave you feeling lonely, it does not have to keep you from adjusting to growing older. Instead, you can learn to embrace your later years so that you can find freedom, joy and belonging in this new “you’re the boss” stage.

Too often, retirement, downsizing, and losing friends and loved ones can have a profound impact. You’re grieving a lot of loss.

Your purpose and meaning of life come into question. Your start to realize change is inevitable and not all of it is positive in this transition to your next phase.

So, sooner or later you end up retreating, thinking that life is never going to get better or meet the expectations you once had.

You don’t want to be a burden to your family, so you create distance between yourself and your loved ones.

Eventually, your disconnection subverts your confidence and you’re left believing that because you’re older you have nothing left to offer the world and those around you, or you don’t know how to harness your worth in meaningful ways.

That’s where Coaching Aging Adults comes in:

As a Clinical Psychologist, I utilize holistic thinking in an integrated approach to treating the mental and emotional effects of aging.

I combine over three decades worth of experience in mental health to create a practice that helps older adults navigate all the concerns that come with aging.

Coaching Aging Adults is dedicated to developing hope and purpose for your future.

It is my mission to educate my clients about normal and healthy aging to help them adjust to all of the changes that come with growing older such as: disability, health concerns, dealing with loss, change of role, and loneliness.

It is not all doom and gloom….

Coaching Aging Adults:

is the place for people who want to navigate the twists and turns of growing older with confidence and purpose. This desire arose directly from my most passionate calling.

The last few years have been a huge growth opportunity for me.

My journey began as I came out of Semi-Retirement after closing down my Psychotherapy Practice that began in 1983. My initial work was with underachieving adolescents and adults who were struggling with adjusting to school and the challenges of change in the Family Life Cycle.

As I began to raise my own children I shifted my practice to young adults and then adults who were wanting to make their own life changes. Over the years, I developed two Group practices: Colorado EPIC (Effective Professionals in Change) and the Motivational Enhancement Center. The world of mental health and managed care continued to provide an environment of challenge for most psychotherapy practices.

After many years of dealing with Managed Care (and getting into networks), I only wanted out! I trained to become a Life Coach in 2001 and used my Coaching skills to figure out what I needed to do to decrease my burnout and find ways to re-create my life and my career.

During that time, I closed my practice and my website. My daily work went in totally different direction from Psychotherapy and Mental Health. When I decided to move back full-time to Denver, I needed to re-invent my life again.

I had a New Partner.

I was 60 years old.

And I decided to get a JOB.

Working at Neuroscience Associates was supposed to be a short-term thing… Who knew that I was going to fall in love with working with Older Adults?

I became a Supervising Psychologist for LCSW’s and LPC’s in Colorado in Long Term Care. My experience working with hospital systems, leading Psychologists on medical staffs, and my love of learning nurtured my desire to create my present practice in Coaching Aging Adults.

Working with older adults and training professionals to deal with the multiple problems that aging brings has become my personal mission.

This website is the fruition of my vision. Coaching Aging Adults has multiple goals. It is ambitious. I have been gathering information for the last 7 years with the hope of making it accessible and easily organized for clients, clinicians, and other professionals to learn about the complexity and joy of working with older clients. This work can be exciting, rewarding and sometimes time-intensive and draining.

You’re in the right place if…

Perhaps you are approaching retirement and want to make the transition as smooth and easy as possible. You want to explore what life will look like after you leave your career and talk about job, volunteer, family and lifestyle options. But you just don’t know the first place to start.

Or maybe you’re a caregiver to an aging parent and need to learn better ways to care for yourself and your loved one. You’re looking for the best ways to support your loved one and need to know more about available resources in your community. When we work together for Caregiver Education and Support, we will strive to make sure that both you and the one you are caring for are the happiest and healthiest you can be. Click here to learn more about Caregiver Education and Support.

As a professional in mental health and healthcare you would benefit from more specialized training in order to offer services to the aging population. You know that you need to become more aware of the unique needs of older adults to help serve them better and are looking for consultation, education, supervision about the aging population. To learn about professional education and consultation about aging, click here.

You may be a Baby Boomer or beyond. Many of my most passionate clients who utilize Medicare Psychotherapy are in their 90s! If you live in Colorado and want to talk about counseling services in the Arvada and Evergreen community, Click here to explore Colorado Senior Counseling.

Ultimately, aging wisely is about knowing your options, believing you have purpose at every stage, and remaining an active participant in your life.

You’re ready for the comfort that comes from knowing you can age well and adapt to all of life’s changes. It is entirely possible to enjoy this phase knowing you have the right resources in your corner.

Call 303 944-5616 to get started.

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About Coaching Aging Adults

With over 35 years of experience in long-term care, consultation for senior services, and mental health care, Coaching Aging Adults is an older-adult focused, integrative practice that is dedicated to helping Seniors, Baby Boomers, Elders, Older Adults, and the Sandwich Generation and their families navigate the waters of Aging Gracefully with Life Purpose and Passion.